The Affordable Care Act and Illinois

ACA and Illinois

Currently, more than 1.4 million Illinois residents or 13% of Illinois's non-elderly population is uninsured. The Affordable Care Act will provide those who are uninsured as well as those who are underinsured with access to private health plans through Illinois Health Insurance Marketplace or Medicaid. Almost 1.3 million Illinois residents may qualify for either premium tax credits to purchase coverage in the Marketplace or enrollment in Obamacare's Medicaid expansion.

Residents of Cook County can currently enroll in Obamacare's Medicaid expansion before 2014 through County Care. More than 70,000 Cook County residents have already applied for County Care.

The Affordable Care Act makes prescription drugs more affordable to Medicare beneficiaries by gradually closing the Medicare Part D coverage gap or 'donut hole.' Medicare beneficiaries in Illinois have saved over $235.3 million on prescription drugs since the passage of the Affordable Care Act . The Affordable Care Act will completely close the prescription drug 'donut hole' by 2020.

In 2011 and 2012, over 2 million Illinois residents with private health insurance gained coverage for a variety of preventive health services, including cancer screenings, contraceptive services, and flu shots, without cost sharing.

The Affordable Care Act requires Medicare to cover certain preventive health services, including mammograms and colonoscopies without cost sharing. In 2012, over 1.3 million Medicare beneficiaries used one or more free preventive services.

Insurers must spend at least 80 percent of our premium dollars on medical care or quality improvements. In 2012, almost 300,000 Illinois residents with private health insurance received almost $62 million, or an average rebate of $380 per familiy, in rebates from insurance companies.

Almost 4.7 million Illinoisans are free from worrying about lifetime limits on coverage due to the Affordable Care Act's ban on lifetime limits.

Increased support for Illinois's community health centers. Illinois health centers have received more than $160 million under the Affordable Care Act for ongoing operations and to establish new health center sites, expand services, and/or support major capital improvement projects.

Expanded access to health care providers. The Affordable Care Act provided $800,000 to the National Health Service Corps to help health professionals who serve in Illinois's medically underserved communities repay their educational loans. The Affordable Care Act provided $6 million to support teaching health centers which provide new primary care residency slots in community health centers.